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Comment Re:No surprise because of the dosage (Score 1) 403

by ITMagic (#30596678) Attached to: Ginkgo Doesn't Improve Memory Or Cognitive Skills

You either have not read the article, or have no concept of pharmacology (or, possibly, both).

The quantity of 240mg per day is meaningless. What we are interested in is: 240mg *of what*? Try taking a daily dose of 240mg of Foxglove extract; or Ergot infected wheat. I think you'll find quite a profound effect!

This particular study used "Ginko Biloba Extract". All well and good - but what, precisely, was extracted (and what was, therefore, thrown away)? From the manufacturers website:

One ton (1,000 kg) of the dried leaves yields only 20 kg of EGb 761® Ref.

contains approximately 24% flavone glycosides (primarily quercetin, kaempferol and isorhamnetin) and 6% terpene lactones (2.8-3.4% ginkgolides A, B and C, and 2.6-3.2% bilobalide). Ginkgolide B and bilobalide account for about 0.8% and 3% of the total extract, respectively. Ref.

Therefore, by my maths, this study used an extract equivalent to 12 gram of dried leaf per day; a pretty reasonable dose - certainly considering that the same company sells 40mg capsules of EGb 761®. More importantly, patients received a *standardised* extract; We're not talking about Holland & Barrett bargain cheapo tea-leaves here!

It's a rather interesting article. Rather less surprisingly, the manufacturer of the product used in the study has not updated their "latest News" section to include these results!
The Almighty Buck

EA Flip-Flops On Battlefield: Heroes Pricing, Fans Angry 221

Posted by Soulskill from the put-your-money-where-your-gun-is dept.
An anonymous reader writes "Ben Kuchera from Ars Technica is reporting that EA/DICE has substantially changed the game model of Battlefield: Heroes, increasing the cost of weapons in Valor Points (the in-game currency that you earn by playing) to levels that even hardcore players cannot afford, and making them available in BattleFunds (the in-game currency that you buy with real money). Other consumables in the game, such as bandages to heal the players, suffered the same fate, turning the game into a subscription or pay-to-play model if players want to remain competitive. This goes against the creators' earlier stated objectives of not providing combat advantage to paying customers. Ben Cousins, from EA/DICE, argued, 'We also frankly wanted to make buying Battlefunds more appealing. We have wages to pay here in the Heroes team and in order to keep a team large enough to make new free content like maps and other game features we need to increase the amount of BF that people buy. Battlefield Heroes is a business at the end of the day and for a company like EA who recently laid off 16% of their workforce, we need to keep an eye on the accounts and make sure we are doing our bit for the company.' The official forums discussion thread is full of angry responses from upset users, who feel this change is a betrayal of the original stated objectives of the game."
The Courts

Hacker McKinnon To Be Extradited To US 571

Posted by timothy from the also-a-headache-sufferer dept.
Vainglorious Coward writes "When UK hacker and Asperger's sufferer Gray McKinnon lost the judicial review of his case it seemed likely that he would be extradited to the US to face charges of hacking almost a hundred systems causing $700,000 worth of damage. Today the UK home secretary rejected his last-ditch attempt to avoid extradition adding that 'his extradition to the United States must proceed forthwith.' McKinnon's relatives are expressing concerns for his health, with his lawyer going so far as to claim that extradition would make the 43-year-old's death 'virtually certain.'"
Image

Scientists Say a Dirty Child Is a Healthy Child 331

Posted by samzenpus from the snack-is-going-to-be-on-the-floor-today dept.
Researchers from the School of Medicine at the University of California have shown that the more germs a child is exposed to, the better their immune system in later life. Their study found that keeping a child's skin too clean impaired the skin's ability to heal itself. From the article: "'These germs are actually good for us,' said Professor Richard Gallo, who led the research. Common bacterial species, known as staphylococci, which can cause inflammation when under the skin, are 'good bacteria' when on the surface, where they can reduce inflammation."

Comment Straw Man (Score 5, Informative) 94

by ITMagic (#29695779) Attached to: Wikileaks Plans To Make the Web Leakier

Everything should be published. Obama's travel schedule/routes, secret codes, locations, troop movements, etc. Everything...

This is a straw man fallacy, and completely irrelevant to the discussion, or to the purpose of Wikileaks.

Go to the about wikileaks and have a read. Look at the slashdot article itself. Both use the work 'embargo'. The Advisory Board, and the staff of Wikileaks, are not going to release the information you are suggesting. It's not the purpose to reveal future troop movements, travel plans or secret codes. They reveal what has happened in the past, and how it was ignored, or hushed up, and allowed to continue.

Comment Re:Awesome! (Score 5, Insightful) 94

by ITMagic (#29694923) Attached to: Wikileaks Plans To Make the Web Leakier

Yes - quite probably. some*one* will.

However, as it stands at the moment, it is quite probable that *many* people are already dying because of corporate or government activities or negligence; and that the reason why any situation goes unchallenged by the democratic voters is often because that they are unaware that the situation is occurring.

Lets face it - when there is a cock-up, and the person or organisation responsible is 'shielded' by corporate cover-up, do you really think that anyone is held truly accountable then?

If you want to live in a world where 'reality' is dictated to you, then I'm sure you can go and find a country that will pander to your requirements. If you choose to bury your head in the sand, and deny that it is in fact *you* as a voter, that are responsible for the actions of your government, and prefer instead to abrogate your democratic role, and instead to put blame on anyone you can point a finger at, then I suppose that is your choice. I hope you are happy with it, and the consequences that could ensue.

Unfortunately, Wikileaks is not only desirable, but absolutely necessary. Yes, someone, somewhere will end up being harmed by information released through the process. But the alternative is far, far more dangerous.
It's funny. Laugh.

Submission + - NHS take action against Burning Patients!!!

Submitted by ITMagic
ITMagic writes: The UK National Patient Safety Agency has just issued a Rapid Response Report , warning about the dangers of burning patients! This, therefore, requires the NHS staff involved to not only take IMMEDIATE action, but also to to ensure that compliance is policed and enforced (action point 4), and to 'snitch' on patients that do not do as they're told (action point 5)...

From the official document (and I paraphrase)...

  • smoking when covered in petroleum jelly can be a fire hazard.
  • You (the NHS employee) must tell them (the patient) that smoking under these circumstances is a fire hazard. You must keep a record that this advice has been given. You must verify that they are competent to understand the aforesaid advice.
  • You are encouraged to design a suitable poster warning of the dangers of smoking whilst covered in petroleum jelly! :-)
  • If the patient is too stupid to understand the risks, put them in a straight-jacket.
  • Relatives should be warned about the presence of Questionable Darwinian DNA in their gene-pool.


OK. For anyone confused as to WHY the Govt. thinks this is necessary, here is the background...

And now the UK NHS response...

As ALL hospitals are now no smoking zones, thanks to recent legislative changes, this intervention by the Nanny State now seems a little pointless. Or, perhaps the time draws nigh when there will be a "Shoot-to-Incapacitate-With-Dum-Dum-Bullets" policy for anyone seen even holding a packet of ciggies?
The Almighty Buck

Submission + - Digital camera costs to go crazy in Europe

Submitted by Brad Binglinton
Brad Binglinton writes: In the unlikely event that you're planning to buy a digital camera in Europe, think again. According to CNET.co.uk, the European Comission is going to increase taxes on certain cameras with certain video recording capabilites. "At the moment, all digital cameras are manufactured outside Europe. They're all imported. All of them. Currently, there's a European Commission-imposed 4.9 per cent import tariff on camcorders, but not on cameras, whatever their video-recording abilities. "
Mozilla

Submission + - Firefox Lite: Together, old PCs can crush IE (cnet.co.uk)

Submitted by everyonesdoghouse
everyonesdoghouse writes: An article on CNET implores the Mozilla community to release a completely stripped down version of Firefox in order to get the browser onto even low-spec machines, thus increasing the brand's awareness and its overall market share.

From the article: "...giving the lightweights a browser they can use only further increases Firefox's market share. The by-product is that the Firefox name will be in more households, more novices' minds and will be their first choice of browser when they buy their new pre-built system sporting Internet Exploiter... Give the Celerons and the K6s some of the power back and let light users rediscover what it's really like to rediscover the Web with Firefox...".

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